Violet Hill: A PMD3 Story
by the cantarella of odile
Summary: Cooper wakes on a foreign shore, with no memory and a strange body. Along with the thief Gavin, she strives to find out who she is, how she ended up on that beach, and, most importantly, why. A retelling of PMD3: rated T for violent and romantic themes. -Discontinued.-
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: **I don't own pokemon, PMD3, and everything else that doesn't belong to me. Enormous thanks goes to Olihmajor and Ebaz for brainstorming with me!

**Summary: **Cooper wakes on a foreign shore, with no memory and a strange body. Along with the thief Gavin, she strives to find out who she is, how she ended up on that beach, and, most importantly, why. A retelling of PMD3: rated T for violent and romantic themes.

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**Prologue **

_Respice Finem_

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"Telling a sad story backwards doesn't give it a happy ending: you can rewind it all, rearrange the scenes, and take everything out of context, but you won't change the inevitable. You can't. No one can.

"Not even time itself.

"Of course, that doesn't mean every sad story lacks happiness. My story had it: moments of joy in between tragedy; triumphs that overcame defeat; flashes of laughter, friendship, and romance. But that's what makes it sad, of course- the fact that the good is always blotted out by the bad.

"So listen, listen. I'm going to tell you my story. Not so much the beginning, since beginnings are flimsy things, and not the ending, since endings don't really exist.

"I'm going to tell you the most important part. The only part that matters.

"The middle.

"Because after it starts and before it ends, all you can do is live."

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_Look Back At The End_

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_A/ N: This is a darker retelling of the PMD3 storyline, with gijinkas instead of regular pokemon. No, I will not be discontinuing Love/ Last Train, but this is yet another project I am taking on. Also, I will be starting each chapter with a Latin quote, and will be placing its English equivalent at the end. Just to clarify : ) _

_Remember, the review button is your friend : ) _


	2. Chapter One

**Disclaimer: **Ed: Wow, five seconds after I post Violet Hill, I see that you've faved it ^^ Thank you! Reviews are also loved! Olih: Thanks for the fave/ alert : 3 And thank you so much ; A ; Ebaz: Thank you for everything : 3 Tri: Thanks so much! *hugs* Arthur: Glad to hear it, hurhurr : ) Ghost: Thanks for the fave : ) Reviews are also loved! Farla: That's why it's the prologue, not the actual first chapter. But I definitely see what you mean, and, in hindsight, I should have posted it along with this chapter. Thanks for the crit : ) Silver: Thank you so much! : 3 Princess: Thanks for the alert : ) Arch: Maybe an Australian accent…? I couldn't tell, either. Poor review button. Anyway, thanks for reviewing : )

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**Chapter One**

_Data Fata Secutus _

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A blast of dark energy collided with a wave of frequency, the force of the two attacks causing every window in the guild to shatter.

"Temper, Alfred," purred the boy, flicking his black-tipped ears. Despite the battle, he was barely out of breath: his slit-pupiled eyes, the colour of honey in sunlight, were heavy-lidded with boredom, and the expression on his freckled face was smug. "The poor windows don't deserve to be punished for your lacking security system."

"You mangy feline," the other squawked, his feathered arms flapping in outrage. "We are charitable enough to house you, and you respond with this despicable attitude; to think that the Guildmaster has allowed you to remain for this long is unutterably-"

"Ridiculous, so you've told me," the meowth gijinka drawled, his plush lips curling in a smirk. "But what would you do without me, really? I make your dull guild life so much more fun."

Blood pooled in the hollows of Alfred's gaunt cheeks, and with a cry he lunged, knocking the younger gijinka to the floor. Opening his mouth wide, Alfred readied another Uproar attack, and the golden-eyed boy hissed in alarm.

"_Enough," _boomed a voice, the order as loud as a thunderclap. Alfred scrambled off of the boy, fright scrawled across his face as a man with a set of tall pink ears entered the cavernous foyer. The man's blue eyes took in the both of them, and then a smile relaxed his round-cheeked face. "What happened, friendly friends?"

Alfred adjusted his monocle, and wiped the dirt off of his blazer before speaking. "I found Gavin- yet again-stealing from us, Guildmaster."

"He attacked me. _Viciously," _Gavin added, his amber eyes blinking in an innocent and wide-eyed way. "He started an Uproar, so I had to fend it off with a Dark Pulse. And he picked a fight with me for no apparent cause, too…"

Alfred looked down his hooked nose at the boy. "You were pawing through our money supply."

Gavin lifted himself into a sitting position, one leg thrown across the other. "How do you know I wasn't simply _counting _it?"

"Do not play us as fools, you insolent little-"

"Temper, Alfred," the Guildmaster chided, his baritone voice singsong.

Gavin tossed a smirk at him, which Alfred studiously ignored.

"Anywho," continued the Guildmaster, some of the humour draining from his expression, "Gavin, stealing is not something we do here. I know that you have no place else to go, but if you keep this up then I'll have no choice but to turn you out."

A sulk loosened Alfred's rigid posture. "No one is fond of him here, in any case," he muttered. "He will not be missed."

"That's not exactly true," Gavin piped in, having overheard. "My dashing good looks and roguish persona has made me quite the hit with the ladies. And the men, it seems. Guildmaster, are you aware that you just walked in on Alfred _straddling _me? I think he should be thrown out for sexual harassment."

"_What?" _screeched Alfred. "That is not- how vulgar of you to even _say _that I would-"

"This was all just a ploy, wasn't it?" asked Gavin, struggling to keep a straight face. "Your goal was to make a move on me all along."

"I would never-"

"I'm not sorry to say that I don't play for your team."

"I-I am not-"

"Lies. Straight men don't wear blue blazers and perfectly-pressed dress pants every day. Also, straight men do not have rows upon rows of hair gel stored in their bathroom cabinets."

"I- wait. _You went into my room?"_

Gavin gave an elegant shrug.

"Guildmaster!" spluttered Alfred. "This is intolerable!"

"I agree," said the Guildmaster, startling them both.

"You do?" Gavin asked. "What happened to goodwill and saying no to sexual predators?"

"I can't have you two fighting anymore," the Guildmaster went on, appearing not to hear. "This guild is a family, and families shouldn't fight; once in a while, maybe, but never aiming to hurt each other. So, Gavin, I want you to become a real part of this family. Maybe that will make this fighting stop."

Gavin blinked, uncomprehending. "Which means…?"

"I want you to form an exploration team, and work for us here at the guild."

Gavin's low eyelids rose higher in shock before he burst into laughter. "If you honestly believe that I'm going to become another one of your little errand boys, I'm going to stand up so I can laugh in your face."

The Guildmaster continued to gaze at him, a small smile plastered onto his face.

The boy's mirth faded. "Seriously?"

"Yes," the Guildmaster said.

"What if I don't want to?" Gavin demanded.

The Guildmaster shrugged his thin shoulders. "Then I'm sorry, but you won't be allowed to stay here any longer."

Alfred gaped at the Guildmaster, flabbergasted. "You trust him enough to allow him to go out on explorations?" the chatot gijinka demanded.

"It doesn't matter," Gavin cut in, pushing himself to his feet. "It's not as if I'd want to stay in this rickety old place anyway."

"Friend," the Guildmaster began.

But Gavin was already stalking off, crossing the moss-ridden floor to climb up the ladders that led to the first floor and the entrance. Alfred and the Guildmaster watched him go, standing amongst the broken glass that littered the ground.

The musical note-shaped ahoge that topped Alfred's head seemed to droop with exhaustion. "That boy is a handful," he sighed. "Guildmaster, why do you try so hard to befriend him?"

"Because he's a good kid," he said simply. "He's just been through a lot, that's all."

"We all have," Alfred answered, and, with yet another sigh, the two went to work and began to clean up the fragmented windows.

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Cooper woke to find sand filling her mouth and her eyes crusted with tears.

Coughing, she struggled upright to vomit seafoam, and then collapsed back onto the beach. Her chest was heaving, fighting to dispel the water in her lungs, and her heart beat painfully against her ribcage.

_Where am I? _she thought, casting her eyes around to examine the broken bottles and seashells that surrounded her. _How did I get here?_

Sending her mind back to figure out why she was lying on a beach, an abrupt agony ripped through her, effectively cutting off her thoughts. Gasping, she squeezed her eyes shut, and hissed out an exhale as unconsciousness came to replace the pain.

She managed to glimpse her memories before they darted back into her subconscious: sterile gloves; clocks; the flash of a scalpel; green eyes; gray everywhere she looked, every which way she turned; promises; someone else's elegy.

Like colours in a kaleidoscope they swirled together, splintering into chaos.

Then sleep took over, and claimed Cooper like a storm thirsting to drag the land into the sea.

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"_What?" _snarled Gavin, his tail lashing in barely-leashed agitation.

"You heard me," the skuntank growled, unrepentant. "We're not taking in some kid. You can fend for yourself."

Gavin hissed, his full lips skinning back to reveal pointed canines. "I steal from the guild for you for _months, _Drake, and you won't even let me join your team?"

"Team Skull ain't for you, pretty boy," Jay, the zubat in the team, sneered. Gavin whipped around to pin him with a glare. He simply leered back, his face, what with its flat nose and eyeless sockets, almost causing Gavin to back down.

"I'd prefer it if you didn't hit on me, leech," he spat. "I've had my dose of unrequited gay love for today."

Jay coughed a laugh, and took flight to perch on one of the stalactites that jutted from the ceiling of the beach cave: the membrane that dangled from his underarms stretched taut as he did, flashing purple.

"You're a rookie," rumbled Drake, and Gavin turned back to face him. "You'll just slow us down."

Gavin bristled. "I won't."

Drake examined him with his good eye, the other hidden behind the patch that was wrapped around his ear and part of his shaved head. The tail that sagged from his backside swished thoughtfully, though his scarred face gave away nothing.

"Tell you what," he said eventually. "Stay with the guild for a while. Pretend you like them and get free food and a bed out of it."

"Why would I do that?" Gavin demanded.

"Because the Guildmaster is said to have an amazing treasure, that's why." Drake leaned forward, and his breath- saturated with rot and disease- fanned across the boy's face. "If you figure out what that treasure is, we'll let you join the team and we can take it together. You just have to endure for a little while, okay?"

He considered this, his amber eyes hooded. "What's the catch?"

"No catch," claimed Drake, his green, blunt teeth bared in a parody of a smile. "Just find out what that treasure is, and the rest will work itself out."

Gavin's mouth twisted in suspicion, but he nodded. "Fine. Deal."

Above them, Jay gave another one of his spluttering laughs, and the hoarse sound bounced off of the craggy walls of the cavern.

"Boss," said Simon, sticking his pudgy face into the cave. Poisonous smoke curled from his nostrils, his enormous eyebrows and eyes nearly obscured by fat. "Boss, I found another job. Some chick practically begging to be pickpocketed is stuck at Craggy Coast, but if we don't go right now she'll be snapped up by someone else."

"Shut up; I'll be there in a sec," Drake boomed. He lumbered over to join his lackey by the back exit to the cave, and Jay unhitched himself from the ceiling to follow them. Gavin didn't wait to say goodbye: he turned, the salty sting of the seaside burning his nose as he slipped out the opposite exit to the cavern.

Outside, krabby were perched on the cliffs that flanked the beach, blowing strings of bubbles that gleamed against the backdrop of sundown. The gijinkas themselves were red blurs in the distance, blowing the bubbles as if they were smoke rings.

His gaze wandered to the beach… where he saw something flicker gold. Moving nearer, his jaw dropped when he spotted a figure on the ground, the waves pushing at it as if trying to move it further up the beach.

Shocked, he made his way over, the sea soaking through his shoes as braved the tide.

He found a girl collapsed in the sand, around his age and completely naked aside from the seaweed that partially covered her features. A necklace gleamed at her throat, the locket at its center the size of a closed fist.

He watched as her eyelids fluttered open, and her light gray eyes focused on him.

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The first thing Cooper saw when she managed to force her eyes open was a boy standing over her.

He looked to be seventeen or eighteen, with a fine-boned face that she could describe only as princely. A splatter of freckles decorated his creamy cheekbones and the bridge of his nose, the feline eyes that stared down at her the colour of maple syrup. His hair shone like old gold, falling into his face in choppy layers, and a gold coin rested between the pointed ears that topped his head. He donned an elaborately detailed shirt that was the same colour as his hair, the sleeves long and flowing. His legs were clad in simple dark pants, lace-up boots ending at his knees. Cooper could see a cinnamon-coloured tail curl out from his tailbone.

_A gijinka. _The word rose up in her mind like water from an unused wellspring, its meaning following shortly.

The boy bent over her with his legs parted and his lips pulled back to display a row of dazzlingly white teeth. "Party too hard, sweetheart?" he asked, his voice like silk running over her skin.

She stared for a moment longer, soaking in the sight of this stranger, and the sensation of wet sand pressing against her bare skin.

_Her bare skin. _

Reacting instinctively, her right leg swung up, connecting with the place between his legs: he groaned, stumbling away from her.

"What was that for?" he hissed, bending at the waist.

"What the hell did you do to me?" she demanded, rising. She swayed unsteadily on her feet, but wavered towards him, anger and fear making her determined enough to keep her balance. "Why am I here? Where are my clothes?"

His eyes lifted to meet hers, and he straightened. "Your guess is as good as mine. I came down here and saw you in the sand." A grin played across his face. "Well, now you know not to have a one-night stand on the beach. I learned it the hard way myself, though I didn't exactly leave the poor girl without clothes in the water. More like I suggested we have a one-night stand, she kept her clothes on, and I was the unlucky soul that ended up face-down in the sand."

Cooper narrowed her eyes at him. "What are you rambling about?"

"I thought you wanted to know how you ended up on the beach," he said.

"I do!" she snapped. "And I know that it wasn't because of a one-night stand. I'm not a slut."

"I wonder about that," he purred.

She felt her cheeks heat, and she crouched down to better cover herself, wrapping an arm protectively around her chest. "Turn around," she ordered. "I don't want you to see me."

"It's a little late for that, don't you think?"

"Shut up and turn around!" she shouted, her nerves frayed and definitely not up to dealing with this guy's bullshit. Rolling his eyes, he made a show of turning so that his back faced her. "Did you really just find me here?" she asked, her voice lowering back to its normal pitch.

He made a clicking sound with his tongue. "That must be some hangover. Can you really not remember anything?"

"Nothing." Unease stirred in her belly. "Just my name, and some other things that don't make sense."

"You know, there's this place- the guild," he said. "They'll let you stay there until you can remember what happened, and they'll get you some clothes. They take in all gijinkas, no matter how slutty, so-"

"I'm not a gijinka." If she was sure of anything, it was that.

He was silent for a moment. "What?"

"I'm not a gijinka," she repeated firmly. "I'm human."

"Human? Are you drunk?" The coyness left his voice with a suddenness that left Cooper stunned. "Or are you just normally a bitch?"

"_What _did you just call me?"

"You heard me." He turned back around, his face devoid of flirtatiousness. "No matter how wasted you are, you don't joke about being human."

She was baffled. "But I am. What's your problem?"

"My _problem _is that you're being insensitive. You're obviously a gijinka."

"For God's sake, turn back around," she growled. "Are you sure _you're _not the drunk one?"

She had the pleasure of seeing those heavy-lidded eyes widen. "God?"

She would have thrown her hands up in the air if she hadn't been using them to cover her breasts. "Yeah, I said 'God'; so what?"

He peered at her, as if reassessing her appearance. "I've never seen you around before… but you have the tails. You're definitely a vulpix gijinka."

She gaped, and, after shouting at him to turn around again, she waded into the water to check her reflection.

The waves distorted her image, mangling it until she could only make out colours, but she could clearly see the burgundy tails that sprouted from her lower back and the set of ears that rose from her skull. Lifting shaking hands, she felt the sleekness of her ears, and then whirled back around to face the boy. "This isn't right!" she snarled, desperation roughening her voice. "I'm _human."_

He joined her in the water, not seeming to care that the bottoms of his pants were getting wet. "Look," he sighed, "I've already had a bad day, and I don't need your psychobabble to worsen it. I don't know what you're on, but just go to the guild, okay? They'll clean you up."

"_You've _had a bad day?" she echoed, outraged. "Look, I'm telling you the truth-"

Reaching for her, he ignored how she flinched back, and ripped off a necklace she hadn't realised she'd been wearing. "Sorry, sweetheart," he said, "but no matter what you are, this isn't personal."

Shocked into stillness, Cooper watched as he darted into the mouth of the cave that was stationed a few meters away, the darkness enveloping him almost instantly. She stared after him for a beat, her mind struggling to catch up; then she gritted her teeth, her eyes narrowing into slits.

"That dick," she griped. Glancing around, her eyes latched onto the tropical trees that swayed further up the beach. Jogging over, she ripped off one of the drooping fronds, tying the tips at the back of her neck to make it so that the width of the leaf covered most of her body.

Swearing, she whirled, and sprinted after the gijinka.

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The faint smell of Drake's noxious odour lingered in the cavern, the salty tang of the air quickly driving it away. Gavin crinkled his nose at it, seating himself on a rock to better examine his newest treasure.

Holding the locket up against his ear, he shook it, and was satisfied to hear a slight rattle of whatever was inside. Placing it back in his lap, he used one tapering nail to try to pry it open, curious to see what was inside.

The locket remained closed.

He sighed, and examined the gold more carefully. It looked to be sealed shut, with obscure patterns- ones that were oddly nostalgic to him- lining the outskirts of it. In the center was etched the word _Contineo. _

"Contineo," Gavin echoed. He recognized it as Latin, but it wasn't as if he knew the dead language by heart. Besides, those patterns… where had he seen those before?

"Hey, gijinka," growled a familiar voice. "Give it here."

He twisted to see the same girl from before striding towards him, a leaf tied in a makeshift dress around her. She was tan, nearly sunburnt, and tall; half a head taller than him, even. Her eyebrows were thin arches on her forehead, her terracotta-coloured hair ending in ringlets midway down her back. Her face was all planes and angles, almost too sharp to be pretty. Her slanting eyes, the colour of melting snow, were locked on him with a deadly amount of fury.

"Well, well," he intoned, hiding a smirk at her persistence. "It's been, what, five minutes? With those long legs of yours, I would have wagered three at the most."

"Give me back what you stole," she demanded, her pleasantly throaty voice rebounding off the stony ceiling.

He tilted his head back to take in those gray eyes and seemingly endless legs. _She's hot, even if she is batshit insane. _

"Tell you what," he said, deciding to humor her. "How about you come and take it from me?"

Her eyes flashed. Taking a deep breath, she visibly steeled herself, and advanced on him.

He watched her, expecting her to launch a fireball at him. Instead her arm pulled back, and then snapped forward to aim a punch at his face.

He ducked easily. "Why the face?" he complained.

Growling, she swung a foot at his kneecap: the kick connected, and he yelped in surprise, falling to one knee. "Why don't you just use regular attacks, instead of fighting dirty?" he asked, allowing some acid to leak into his voice.

"Because I'm not a gijinka!" The reply came back instantly, much to his irritation. _What, does this girl not see the tails sprouting from her ass? Because I'm pretty sure humans don't have those._

He felt his lips quirk. "Fine. I don't hit girls, but for you I'll make an exception."

"Bring it." Her eyes danced with cold light.

Rising to his feet, he directed an uppercut to her abdomen; she leapt back nimbly, falling into a fighting stance. Prowling towards her, he cupped his hands together, readying a Dark Pulse between his palms.

She elbowed his exposed stomach, the sharpness of bone connecting with his hard muscles. He staggered backwards, and she used his vulnerability to throw herself at him. He lost his footing, and his half-formed Dark Pulse sizzled into nonexistence as they both crashed to the ground.

A smirk stole over his face when he realised that she was on top of him. "Are you _sure _you're not a slut?"

"Shut up," she hissed, making a grab for the necklace that was clutched in his hand. He moved it out of reach, and, in one motion, flipped her so that she was pinned underneath him. "Get _off _of me, you pervert!"

"Use a move and get me off," he challenged. "Use Flamethrower, or whatever you fire gijinkas do."

"I _can't." _Her knee connected with his gut, but he endured. "I told you; I'm human."

"You're crazy, that's what you are." He frowned down at her, their chests rising and falling in tandem.

"Just give me back the damn necklace already." She pushed fruitlessly at his shoulders.

"Why do you want it so badly?" he queried.

Her face went blank for a moment. "Because…because it's…" She faltered, and her eyes grew unfocused. "My mom's? No… it's…" Wincing, her expression contorted as if in great pain. "Fuck," she muttered.

The smirk dropped from his lips. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she snapped, shaking off whatever pain she was experiencing. "It's just important to me, okay?"

He stared down at her. Her jaw was clenched, as if fighting some strong emotion, and those fierce gray eyes were wet. Teardrops clung stubbornly to her lashes, refusing to fall.

Making a split-second decision, he rose off of her, brushing sand off of his pant legs. "It won't open, anyway," he said, tossing the necklace at her. It landed on her chest. "Besides, I have a policy against stealing from the criminally insane."

She sat upright, her expression guarded. Slipping the necklace around her throat, she pushed herself to her feet.

He scrutinized her, and she stared back, her eyes wary of his every movement. Now that he looked, he could see the fatigue that shadowed her face- how had he missed it before? She was practically dead on her feet.

"You know, that guild I mentioned earlier- you should seriously go there," he told her, resting a hand on his hip. "They'll help you figure out what's wrong with you. Mental AIDS, maybe, since you're such a slut."

"The slut gag is getting old, don't you think?" she asked, fidgeting with her makeshift dress. "Get a new insult already."

He flashed a diamond-bright smile. "It's only funny because it's true, sweetheart. What's your name, anyway?"

She shot him a dirty look. "Cooper. What's yours?"

"Gavin." He gave an exaggerated bow. "I'd kiss your hand, but who knows what they've been touching?"

Her mouth thinned angrily, and as he straightened he glimpsed her moving to attack him. He lifted his hands, preparing to block the blow.

Then, without warning, she collapsed onto him, her legs going boneless. He caught her before she hit the ground, shocked into reacting instinctively. Looking down, he saw that her eyes were shut, and that her jaw had gone slack.

_Fainted, _he realised, stunned. Lowering her gently to the ground, he supported her head, and stared down at this girl: this muddled, feisty girl that was naked, had expensive jewellery on her, and was completely at his mercy.

So Gavin did the only thing that came to mind: sling her over his shoulder, straighten, and walk out of the cave whistling.

That, and pray that she wouldn't wake up before they arrived at their destination.

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_Following What Is Decreed By Fate_

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_A/ N: Please review! _


	3. Chapter Two

**Disclaimer: **Olih: Mmm, Gavin IS best enjoyed with jelly donuts. Also, yeah, wrong story, but thanks for the question ^^; Ebaz: I love Gavin so much ; w ; I'm so happy that you do, too! And thank you! I put all I had into that chapter, and I'm ridiculously pleased that you enjoyed it. Tri: I'm glad you brought that up, because it's explained in this chappie; thanks for reviewing : ) Arthur: I am so glad that you like them! And jeez, Gavin's stealing everybody's heart, it looks like~ (Pun intended) Thank you! Silver: Thanks for the alert/ your review : ) I'm glad my characters were well-received. Jack: Thank you so much for your feedback/ favourite! Arch: Thank you SO much for your review! Again, I feel ridiculously pleased that I pulled Gavin off well ^^ Sabriael: Thanks for the fave! Reviews are also loved. Platinum: Thank you! Gijinkas will be explained in this chapter : )

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**Chapter Two**

_Ut Eget Est In Spinis Papilio Alis Disrumpam_

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_In the dream, grass pressed against Cooper's back. Her arms were stretched out above her head, and she could feel slim, slightly rough fingers twine with hers. _

"_Let's play one-word story," she heard herself say as she stared up at a sky that was as gray as a strip of pavement. No breeze ruffled her hair: the air was stagnant, pressing down on her from all angles. _

"_Really, Coop? You wanna play that stupid game again?" a girl's voice retorted. _

"_Yeah, really; and it's not stupid, Romy, it's tradition. Besides, you know you love it."_

_There was a snort, but the fingers tightened around hers. "Okay. You start."_

_Cooper thought for a moment. "Once." _

"_Upon." _

"_A." _

"_Time." _

"_There." _

"_Was." _

"_A." _

"_Place." _

"_Where." _

"_Beautiflies." _

"_Never." _

"_Died." _

_The two paused. "Way to be depressing, Rom." _

_She could feel her companion shrug. "There's nothing depressing about liking beautiflies."_

_Sighing, Cooper flipped onto her stomach. She was met with the sight of a blonde girl sprawled out on her back, looking to be three or four years younger than her. _

"_Look, Romy," she began, "I know you're mad, but-"_

"_Save it." Romy's chin trembled, but her voice remained gruff. "Don't say sorry, and don't make excuses. What you're doing… it's not something to feel bad about." She gave a limp grin. "You're gonna make it so the beautiflies can die again, Coop." _

_Cooper moved into a sitting position, pulling the other girl up with her. Throwing her arms around Romy, she hugged her hard. "I'll never forget you, Romy." _

"_We're best fucking friends forever; you better not. I'm going to miss you, though." Romy returned the embrace, and together the two rocked back and forth underneath starless skies. "Bring back me back a beautifly, though, okay? Not a gijinka, but a real one, with the stupidly pretty wings and everything." _

_Cooper buried her face in her friend's collarbone. "I'm going to make it so the beautiflies can die again, Rom," she promised, her voice cracking. _

"_Yeah." She could feel tears drip onto her head, falling like rain. "It's gonna be beautiful." _

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Gavin and Alfred faced each other in the guild's foyer, unblinking.

"So what you are saying," said Alfred after a moment, "is that this girl washed ashore, bewildered and defenseless, and when the two of you were conversing, you stole her keepsake, fled, and were apprehended by her shortly afterwards? Which then led to you carrying her here?"

"No," Gavin answered. "What I _said _was that I found this walking STD farm on the beach, and when we were talking she started ranting and raving and looking like she was going to start foaming at the mouth, so I borrowedher necklace and went to go examine it someplace else… which then led to her savagely beating me, passing out, and me having to drag her here." His mouth quirked. "But yeah, the basic meaning isn't that far off."

Alfred sighed, rubbing at his temples with feathered fingertips. "And this girl believes herself to be human, you say?"

The amber of Gavin's eyes darkened. "She's insane; I bet you that when she wakes up this time she'll think she's Arceus."

"Still," Alfred returned, "there is the possibility that it could be true."

"What? That she's Arceus?" Gavin feigned consideration. "You know, I actually imagined Arceus to be a mammoth magikarp that stares down at us with his buggy deity eyes and causes natural disasters by flapping his tail around-"

"I'm serious," Alfred cut in.

"So am I. I also strongly believe that the apocalypse will be caused by Arceus-magikarp evolving into Arceus-gyarados, and that he will crush us all with a mighty Thrash for shunning all of his earthly brethren."

Alfred levelled a glare at the younger gijinka. "If this girl isn't mistaken; if she truly is human-"

"She isn't," Gavin hissed, losing all pretense of amusement. His eyelids fell until only a thin line of his irises could be seen, and his ears flattened to rest against his skull. "She's a gijinka."

"If she _was _human," Alfred amended snappishly, "then it would explain the memory wipe. And if she was human, then we have no choice but to explain what happened."

Gavin's eyes slid all the way closed, and for a moment Alfred was startled at how vulnerable the meowth gijinka looked: the planes of his face were soft with dread, and the twist of his mouth was pained, as if the words caused him physical pain.

Then his eyes flickered open, and all traces of weakness were demolished. "Then let's go, shall we?" he said, already walking away. "I have to talk to the Guildmaster about something, and besides, she'll be less cranky if she has something pretty to look at when she wakes up."

Alfred fluttered after him, feeling his mouth purse. "Meaning you?"

"Well, yes." Gavin eyed him distastefully. "Why, did you think I was referring to you? Awkward."

Alfred could only squawk in indignation as Gavin sauntered off, making his way towards the Guildmaster's quarters.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Cooper woke to find her heart beating like a frantic beautifly, wings flapping as it tried to escape from a tangle of thorns. It pounded against her ribcage so hard that it distorted her vision, turning the world into a blur of bright colours that pained her eyes after the gray of her dream.

"Are you alright, friendly friend?" asked low voice, startling Cooper from her thoughts. She blinked away the haziness, and was greeted with the sight of a round-cheeked face looming uncomfortably close to hers.

Reacting instinctively, she jerked into a sitting position, scrambling backwards across the bed-

_Wait. When did I get into a bed?_

"Please don't wear such a scary face; we're all friends here." The stranger in front of her was a riot of colour: his tall, gangly frame was covered by a yellow crop top and tight red pants ensemble, blue rain boots squeaking around his ankles. Long pink ears sat atop curls of the same colour, marble-blue eyes smiling down at her. "I'm the Guildmaster; it's nice to meet you, Cooper."

She squinted at him, confused, until the happenings of before crashed onto her. "Oh."

The gijinka beamed as he saw her eyes widen. "Does that mean you remember?"

The young face of Romy darted in front of her mind's eye, a half-remembered dream or memory, she couldn't tell. "I remember waking up on the beach," she said slowly, frowning at the ache in her chest that the thought of Romy had brought on. "And I- I had no clothes!" Flushing, she looked down at herself, and saw that she was garbed: a

maroon jacket was thrown over a plain white shirt, black slacks covering her legs. She felt the softness of her tails underneath her, and reached behind herself to find that a hole had been cut into the back of the pants to allow her tails to flow freely. _So I'm still a gijinka, _she thought, feeling a twinge of unease. "How…?"

"Our cook is the same size as you," he informed her merrily. "She kindly donated one of her outfits."

"Oh," Cooper said again, too surprised to properly reply. Glancing around, she saw that the room she was in was just as colourful as the Guildmaster: mountains of trinkets were pushed up against the walls, a glass case full of apples blocking out the window. An incredibly large beanbag chair sat in the middle of the room, the middle of it sunken from being sat on. "Um… how do you know my name?"

His smile- so large that it seemed to Cooper that it would split his face in two- grew, and a handful of dimples indented his cheek. "Gavin told me."

She felt her expression darken, and her hand twitched up to check that her necklace was still in its rightful place around her neck. "I remember _him." _

"Of course you do," purred an all-too familiar voice. Cooper turned to see Gavin leaning against the doorjamb, one leg thrown across the other. "I am quite memorable."

A scowl wormed its way onto her lips. "Oh God, not _you _again."

Gavin slanted a significant glance at the Guildmaster before waltzing into the room, his fair hair shining liquidly under the lights. "Yes, me," he replied, throwing himself on

the bed in a sprawl beside her. "Nice clothes, by the way," he added, pinching her sleeve between his thumb and forefinger. "A definite improvement compared to yesterday's _au naturel _look, am I right?"

"Piss off," she growled. He allowed her to shove him off the bed, and caught himself with ease before he hit the floor. "Where am I, anyway? How did I get here?"

"After you swooned in my arms like a wilting flower, I carried thee, slut, to the guild, which was aforementioned-"

She chucked a pillow at him, which smacked him full in the face. "Why are you even here? Get out!"

He tossed the pillow back at her, which she caught. "You know, I think you have something against my face. That and my manly parts, I find, are what you tend to target. Tell me- are you lesbian, or just a feminist?"

"Friends," the Guildmaster chided, coming to step between them. "Please. This is not how teammates should act towards each other."

"Teammates?" Cooper echoed, apprehension causing the back of her neck to prickle.

Smirking, Gavin took a large step away from the bedside.

"Yes, teammates," the Guildmaster said, clapping his hands together. "Gavin explained everything. I must say, despite your amnesia, it's very smart of you to join the guild; we're a family here, and I'm sure that Gavin will be a good partner and help you with your memory lapse."

Her jaw dropped. Staring blankly at the Guildmaster, she blinked, and then twisted to face Gavin.

_You bastard, _she seethed, realisation dawning.

'Sorry,' he mouthed, giving an unapologetic shrug.

"Just let me get the registration forms and such, and we can get all of this sorted," hummed the Guildmaster, moving away from the two. As soon as his back was turned, Cooper lunged at the meowth gijinka: the force of the tackle caused them both to topple into the nearest pile of objects, skin banging against plastic. The Guildmaster didn't appear to hear the noise, and continued to look for the papers.

"You jerk," she hissed, taking his collar in hand and shaking him. "I don't know _what _the hell this is all about, but-"

"But what?" The smirk dropped off his face as he took in her fierce expression. "Look, I know we're not exactly the best of friends, but where else would you go? This way, you get to live here at the guild instead of having to camp out on the streets."

She glared. "If this is just about letting me live here, then what's this talk about 'teammates'?"

He rolled his eyes. "Honestly, you'd think that I'm signing you up for getting your nails yanked or something. Everything will be explained later, I promise; for now, just smile and nod and pretend like you know what's going on."

She glowered at him, weighing her options. Then she released him, coming to her decision.

"Ah!" The Guildmaster cried out in victory when he found the papers and old burlap sack he had been searching for, and whirled in time to see Cooper and Gavin getting to their feet. "Now, are you all ready to sign up?"

Gavin looked at Cooper, who pointedly turned her head the other direction. "Yes, we're ready."

The Guildmaster plonked himself down in the beanbag chair, and motioned for the two to step closer. Once they did, he handed them the papers and a pen. "That's the guild's contract," he said cheerfully. "If the two of you could sign on the bottom line, then that would be great."

"Why?" asked Cooper suspiciously, even as she wrote her name.

The Guildmaster's cheeks jiggled as he laughed. "Oh, it's just a formal way of saying that you work for the guild, that the guild takes full responsibility of you, and that, when you die, everything you own goes to the guild." He waved away Cooper's stricken expression, and then stretched his hand out for the papers. "Finished?"

Gavin returned the papers and pen, a look of dry amusement plastered onto his face.

"Now, your exploration team needs a name," continued the Guildmaster.

"Exploration team?" Cooper muttered under her breath, shooting a reproachful look at Gavin.

"Just smile and nod, sweetheart," he muttered back.

"So have you two come up with a name yet?" queried the Guildmaster, smiling.

Gavin elbowed her. "I'll let you have the honors."

"Gee, thanks," she said bitterly. "How generous of you."

"I know." He crinkled his nose at her in what was supposed to be a charming expression.

Scowling, she sighed, and rummaged through her mind for a name. _Team... Team…_

It was then that a word swam to the surface of her thoughts.

"Exuro," she said.

Gavin blinked. "What?"

"Exuro," she repeated. "Team Exuro."

The Guildmaster grinned. "All settled, then! I'll register you as Team Exuro." With a flourish, he scrawled the name across the top of the first paper, and then held out the burlap sack. "For forming your exploration team, I'd like to present you with this commemoration."

Gavin took the sack, and opened it. Peering inside, Cooper saw a frayed map and a badge.

"That is your treasure bag, which you can use for carrying items around," the Guildmaster explained. "Inside it is a map of the region, which is useful for navigating, and your badge, which is your official exploration team identification." He dimpled at the pair. "I do hope you'll enjoy your apprenticeship here, friends."

Cooper was spared answering to this by a loud squawk ringing out from behind her. She turned to see a gijinka that looked to be the same age as the Guildmaster stumble into the room: he was gaunt and skeletal-thin, donning spotless black dress pants and a dark blue blazer. Despite his unimpressive height, he held himself rimrod straight, giving the illusion of tallness.

"I am so sorry, Guildmaster!" he twittered, waving his feathered arms in a panicked fashion as he neared the three. "I attempted to stop Gavin from intruding, but he disregarded my orders and-"

"Alfred," cried Gavin, as if greeting an old friend. "Tattling, stick-up-your-ass, straight-as-a-protractor Alfred- what took you so long? I did tell you that I was going to the Guildmaster's room, did I not? And I don't exactly remember you telling me that I wasn't _allowed _to go."

"That was before you insulted me and left," the older gijinka replied stiffly, the eye behind the monocle narrowing. "If you remember correctly, I then followed after you, saying that it would be unwise to barge into the Guildmaster's quarters. I would have made certain that you yielded to my request, but Flora came to ask for my assistance, and I was unable to."

"It's quite alright, Alfred," interrupted the Guildmaster. "I have just registered the two, and you are just in time to give them the run-down."

Alfred's beaklike nose twitched, and the colour left his cheeks.

"Cooper needs to be informed." Even though the Guildmaster spoke the words cheerily, there was an underlying urgency in them that Cooper couldn't help but notice.

Alfred gave a resigned sigh. "Must I be the one, G-"

"_Do it!"_

Everyone in the room jumped at the Guildmaster's abrupt change in tone. Alfred's mouth snapped shut, and with a sigh he adjusted his monocle. "Very well," he said heavily. Turning his small eyes onto Cooper, he blinked thrice, and frowned. "Come along, you two."

The anger melted off of the Guildmaster's face, and he returned to being as charitable as before. "Thank you, Alfred."

Alfred left the room, and Gavin towed Cooper along after him. "There," the meowth gijinka whispered, as if to not be overheard. "That wasn't so bad, was it?" Despite his light words, there was no trace of a taunt in his eyes, and his tone was decidedly harsh: as harsh as it had been when he had snapped at her back on the beach, when he had snarled at her not to joke about being human.

Cooper didn't respond: she was too busy experiencing the déjà vu of feeling the air press down on her from all angles, suddenly and inexplicably stagnant.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

The wood was sharp against the bottoms of Gavin's shoes as he climbed the ladder that led to the first floor of the guild. Despite being late afternoon, it was mercifully empty: no voices bounced off of the ivy-ridden walls, and the chalkboards marred by job listings weren't blocked by bodies.

Alfred fiddled with his monocle as Cooper moved to stand in front of him. She had both arms wrapped around herself, and her eyes flickered distrustfully around the room: Gavin also couldn't help but note the uneasy twitch of her tails, and lowness of her ears. Her entire body exuded discomfort.

The boy looked away as he lifted himself up to perch on the windowsill, his tail dangling beneath him as he got comfortable. As soon as he heard Alfred clear his throat he angled his head in the opposite direction, leaning his cheek against the glass and pretending to be asleep for his own benefit.

"This is the job bulletin board," the chatot gijinka began, his voice noticeably hoarse. "Gijinkas post job requests here, for both fellow gijinkas and regular pokemon. You're aware that things have grown rather lawless, correct?"

"No." The word was packed with as much bitterness as she could cram in.

Alfred cleared his throat yet again. "Yes, well, things have. Ever since the flow of time was ruptured-"

_Here we go, _thought Gavin, squeezing his eyes more tightly shut.

"_Time?"_ he heard Cooper say, baffled. "As in hours and minutes?"

"Yes." Alfred's tone was brusque.

"How is that even possible?" she asked.

He paused. "It is believed that time gears are somehow involved."

Gavin's head lolled to the right, and he cracked one eye open to check Cooper's expression. It was rife with bewilderment, but he thought that he glimpsed a glimmer of recognition, too.

"Time gears," she repeated, seeming to taste the word.

Alfred dipped his head in a nod. "Time gears serve a very important function: each one protects time and keeps time flowing properly in its region. Everyone makes sure to never disturb the time gears, lest time stops flowing in that area; everyone has long been certain that disaster would strike if they were tampered with."

She eyed him warily. "And did disaster strike?"

"Of course it did," Gavin interjected. "Why would we be here talking about it if it didn't?"

Her lips parted in a retort, but the warning in his eyes was enough to make her bite her tongue. Glancing away from him, she looked back at Alfred, who was fidgeting with his sleeve.

"About thirty years ago," Alfred said haltingly, with long sighs inbetween, "some of the time gears began to dim, as if they were being shaded by something, and the time of a few regions began to stutter.

"Ten years after that, the humans came."

Gavin tilted his head back to face the window yet again, feeling his nails dig into his palms. His lashes brushed the pane, and he focused not on his reflection, but on the world beyond.

"Gavin tells me you think that you are- were- human, Cooper. Is that correct?"

"Yes."

"It could be true. Once the humans arrived here, they began making gijinkas." There was a short silence. "Do you remember that?"

She hesitated before replying, and it sounded to Gavin that she was puzzling out the memory aloud. "I think so. It was an experiment, right? To see if pokemon could be fused?" Alfred must have nodded, because she went on to say, "It started with experimenting by just fusing together pokemon, right? Like splicing the genes of shellder and slowpoke to create slowbro?"

"That's right." Alfred's tone was bleak. "It then escalated to them attempting to turn pokemon into humans to get a basis for fusing pokemon and humans together, which they clearly succeeded in doing." There was a rustle of feathers as he gestured to himself, and then to Cooper.

Gavin blinked away the sudden memories that flashed in front of his eyes, as faint and persistent as afterimages from staring into the sun: sterile gloves; being thrown into the mesh cage; staring into the overhead lights until the drugs kicked in, knocking him unconscious-

"You must have been turned into a gijinka," he heard Alfred say, while Gavin shook his head to dispel the recollections. "Oftentimes, because of how the bodies of the human and pokemon are fused together, there are lapses in memory. Though, we were certain that the experiments had stopped- there hasn't been any news of them since a few years ago."

An exhale whistled out from between Cooper's teeth, slicing through the silence like a knife. "The experiments stopped?"

"The humans left," Alfred answered. "So yes, the experiments stopped." The hesitation in his voice was plain. "Is any of this sounding familiar to you, Cooper?"

"Some of it." The words sounded as if they were being dragged out of her.

Quiet stretched taut between them.

Heaving a sigh, Gavin rolled off the sill, and landed on his feet. "If we're done being silent and awkward, can we go now?" he asked, stretching. "I'm sick of hearing your voice."

Alfred's feathers stood on end. "You may certainly _not _leave! I am not finished-"

Gavin faced Cooper, turning his back to the chatot gijinka. "Okay, so before he goes off on another rant, here's what you need to know: since there are fewer gijinkas than there are normal pokemon, the guild hires gijinkas to use their 'more capable bodies'-" He mimed quotation marks with his fingers "-to help normal pokemon in need and explore new lands, or something corny like that. I don't know exactly. But what I _do _know is that that means we get to live in this hellhole, get paid minimum wage, and have to listen to Alfred's drivelling." Gavin turned. "Did I forget anything, Alfy?"

Alfred attempted to reply, but only succeeded in causing spittle to fly from his mouth.

"Oh! I almost forgot." He leaned over to scan one of the notices on the bulletin board. "Uh-huh. Okay. Memorized." Wheeling around, he trapped Cooper's hand in his, and began pulling her forward.

"You mangy feline, where do you think you're going?" squawked the chatot gijinka.

"Out," Gavin replied, making a gesture that was halfway between a jaunty salute and flipping the middle finger. He only had an instant's warning before a Hyper Voice sliced through the air, and he pushed Cooper's head down in time for her to avoid an assault on the ears.

"Alright, fine. We're going _out _to complete a job request," the meowth gijinka amended, scowling at the ringing in his ears. Cooper swatted at him as she straightened, but he could tell it was half-hearted. Her expression was distant, as if she was separated from reality by a great ocean.

"No you are not! As the scholar of this guild, I say that disobedience is not tolerated here-"

But Gavin was already forcing her outside, and in a second all Alfred had to yell at was a closed door.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Cooper allowed Gavin to tow her along, her steps slow and staggering as she stumbled behind him. Thoughts fluttered like beautiflies in her brain, disabling the rest of her body as they crashed into each other. It was only when the scenery changed from sun-gilded grass and dirt trails to rocky hillsides that she roused herself enough to ask where he was taking her.

"To complete a job request," he answered, as if it should be obvious. "What, do you have short-term memory loss as well as amnesia?"

"I didn't ask _what _we were doing," she flared back. "I asked _where _we were going."

"It's a place called Drenched Bluff," he replied as the ground steepened, the gravel sharpening underfoot. "The notice said that a spoink lost its pearl up here, so apparently that's our problem." He gave a snort. "It's ridiculous. Just because we're half human doesn't mean we should commit our lives to running errands for the less 'able'."

Cooper looked at him, really looked at him, and felt her anger evaporate. "You don't mean that."

His eyes slid towards her. "Yes, I do," he said, sounding tired. "I really don't give a fuck about any of this, but the Guildmaster and his whiny scholar won't let me stay at the guild unless I participate. Which is what I need you for," he added. "Since they won't let anyone go solo for safety purposes, a two-gijinka team is a must."

She pondered this, her mind crowded with knowledge. Snapshots of Alfred and the Guildmaster passed in front of her mind's eye, along with the long-buried memories that she had managed to scavenge at the beach; the memories of too-white gloves and clocks and green, green eyes.

She swallowed her pride to say, "Look, I'm sorry about before; on the beach, I mean. I forgot about the… experiments."

"You're a bitch," he answered, still sounding bored. "But don't worry. I'm getting used to it."

She felt herself scowl. "You're a dick."

"Well, I'd hate to be a vagina."

She opened her mouth to retort, but stopped. Despite his words, his face was deathly pale; his expression was bleak, his eyes drooping not with boredom but true exhaustion.

"Do you remember the experiment?" she found herself asking, her voice hushed. "Do you remember what they did to you?"

His eyes fluttered closed, but opened just as quickly. "It depends. If I do, then will you shut up and leave it alone?"

She considered. "Yes."

"Then yeah, I do." He turned his head away from her, making it so she was unable to see his face. "I remember what I can, anyway. The thing about trying to think back to it is that you have two sets of memories to sort through; the memories of the pokemon and the memories of the human. Some of the memories, like being thrown into cages before the operation, are the same. But there are others that are different. Like how the doctor told the human me that the operation would be 'Just a little cut', but didn't bother saying anything to the other me."

Sickness rose up in her on a great wave, but she managed to keep the bile in her throat. "So which one were you?" she questioned, nauseous at the thought of being spliced; of merging two beings into one, replanting brain tissue and rewriting DNA strands. "Before you were spliced, I mean. Were you the meowth or the human?"

"Both, I guess."

A shiver crawled down her spine, and the bile burned her throat as it made its way back down. She had been human, once. That much she knew. But the thing she was now… how had it changed her, other than physically? Could the memories she owned even be called hers?

Choking on a sudden flood of emotion, she hardly noticed when Gavin's hand left her elbow. Through hazed-over eyes she glimpsed him walking away, towards an outcropping of rocks where something pink gleamed against the gray.

And that was when the beautifly flew by.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Gavin plucked the pearl out from between the stones it was sandwiched between, his mood still sour from having to relive the times he had spent so much time and effort trying to bury. Scowling down at the gem- it was such a measly little thing, really; it was stupid how spoinks couldn't function without them- he turned, and prepared to fling another insult at Cooper before they headed back.

Instead of seeing her glaring at him, as he expected, he found her watching as a beautifly fluttered past. A single column of sunlight slanted down from the clouds above, seemingly setting Cooper's hair aflame. The beautifly's multifaceted eyes gleamed like tiny onyx stones in the light, its wings glowing like shards of stained glass as it landed on Cooper's upturned palm. The wings beat slowly, sadly, and as Gavin stared she lifted her hand up to better see it. And for one brief, unimportant hiccup in time, he thought that he had never seen something so beautiful.

Then she killed it. Clapping one hand on top of the other, she killed the beautifly, and killed the beauty along with it. Lifting the hand away, she revealed the broken body twitching in her palm, and then allowed it and its stained-glass wings to float to the ground. For a small eternity she stared down at it, as if to make certain that it was dead.

She then turned, and began striding back down the hillside: she couldn't bear to let Gavin, or anyone else, see her cry.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

_A Butterfly That Brushes Against Thorns Will Tear Its Wings_

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

_A/ N:_

_1. Gavin said that spoinks can't function without their pearls because a Dex entry says that to keep their heart beating, spoinks bounce; yet, without their pearls, they are unable to bounce. _

_2. THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE UP ON TUESDAY *headdesk*_

_3. Reviews are loved._


	4. Notification

**Notification:**

I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but I've decided to postpone writing this fic until I have finished _Last Train Home: A Platinum Nuzlocke. _It's just that between school and my other projects, I have no time and motivation for this. Again, I'm very sorry, and I hope to see your reviews when this starts up again!

-Love, Odile


	5. Discontinued

**Disclaimer: **Arch: Thank you! What a wonderful review. Solid: Thanks for the alert, fave and review! SisterofSilver: Yes, that's true- I didn't word it the same way as the Dex entry, but the meaning is the same (from what I remember). And yes, Silver clarified that you are actually his sister ^^ Mitsy: : D Oh hai. Yes, you should definitely play this game- it's fun, has a great storyline, has a beautiful score, and is the biggest tearjerker I have ever played. And yes, I could most definitely see Alfred teaching there, lol. Hm… yes, I do imagine it would hurt tremendously. Thank you for bringing that up! I hadn't thought of it before. Olih: Thank you ; w ; Pikachu: Wow, thank you very much! *Hugs* What a sweet thing to say! Penny: Yep, gijinkas ^.^ And I'm glad you like her! Lumpy: Dude, I love His Dark Materials : D Except for the ending. The ending made me bawl like a baby. And thanks for reviewing!

**Notice:**

**I am so very, very sorry, and it pains me to say this, but I've decided to discontinue this and my 'Words Meet Heartbeats: A No Kuni Collection' fic since I don't- and won't- have the motivation to continue them. Sorry for getting your hopes up with this update. I enjoyed writing this fic very much, Gavin in particular. **

**However, if you liked this, then I suggest that you read my other works, such as:**

'**Love Remains The Same'- A collection of oneshots, and my longest-running series.**

'**Hey Steven: A Steven Stone Crackfic Collection'- Written by myself and Olihmajor.**

'**Pictures of You: A Black Nuzlocke'- Which will be starting up again soon.**

**and**

'**Last Train Home: A Platinum Nuzlocke'- Which I am currently re-writing!**


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